Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

Saying Goodbye to old friends can be rough, especially when they have been with you for over 16 years.

I know I should have updated you guys on this a while back, but this was hard to write. Saying goodbye is never easy. You may remember seeing pics of my girl Jade around.

I got Jade the same weekend I graduated from Auburn. I left my internship in FL to graduate and came home with a little 5 week old ball of fur. She was spunky and fun and I loved her from the moment I met her. She lived in Florida with me for a year before we moved back to Auburn, Atlanta, Spokane, Richmond and finally ended up here in the compound in Oklahoma. She was a well traveled dog, we used to joke that she had peed in 35 or so states and Canada. She traveled around the states with us and everyone who met her loved her. She was the best. I have so many memories of being an adult and Jade was always there. From marriage to the birth of our children and the adoption of Stella and George, she was around. A solid, loyal and trustworthy companion.

We don’t really know what happened to her, which has got to be one of the hardest parts of all of this. We have an awesome vet that comes to our house. She had been by on Wednesday to take a look at Jade. She was 16 1/2 and she wasn’t doing well at all. We were having a hard time with wether or not to put her to sleep. The vet talked to me for over and hour and she told me Jade was in too much misery and it was time to say goodbye. Matt was out of town and I knew he would want to see her again, so I made an appointment for the vet to come back the following week. We had a plan. We were going to tell the kids when they got home from school and then bury her in the yard. That was how it was supposed to go. But Saturday she just disappered. We looked everywhere, knocked on doors, combed the woods, put up flyers, called every vet and shelter in town. Everything we could think of to do. We knew in the kind of shape she was in she couldn’t walk far and she wasn’t one to wonder off. She would stick with us and didn’t stray. It was an awful way for our time together to end. I called the vet and could barely get the words out through my tears, but we had to postpone the appointment. She told us to call back as soon as we found her. We never did.

That was a hard thing to deal with, for all of us. We couldn’t really tell the kids she has passed because we didn’t really know. There were a lot of tears and regret. Saying goodbye can be even harder without closure. But, in the end we are trying to remember all the glorious years with her and how great she was.

The kids have their dogs – George and Stella. They are great dogs. But they sleep with the kids, follow the kids around, etc. I love them, but I wanted a dog again. My dog. I was so sad for months. Matt wasn’t quite ready, so we discussed it for a while. I didn’t want just any dog, but I felt like if I saw her I would know. I saw a few I liked here and there, but none like this one. I love hound dogs and a red bone coonhound is even better. We found her at the pound, my favorite place for new family members, and I knew she was perfect.

She has been with us about a week and a half and I am in love. She has been a great puppy. We are calling her Willie. Willie Nelson, The Red Headed Stranger and Silly Willie. She is about 4-5 months and is fitting in wonderfully.

So, there it is. I had a hard time writing this post but I wanted to let everyone know why they might be a change in some of the pictures. I’m sure I’ll be talking about her a lot. I’m still not over Jade, but I am feeling better again. Puppies have a therapeutic quality like that. I just wanted to let you guys know if you see a new face around, that’s Willie.

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